Putnam County Trailway Trip Reports
Sept-2002 : Access to Putnam Country Trail from Brewster train station
Steve Faust (excerpt from E-mail):
Took the Metro-North train to Brewster, rode the shoulder of Route 6 about 10 miles west to Lake Mahopac, where the new Putnam County section of the trail begins at Bucks Hollow Road. The Olympic Diner is up Miller Rd at Rt 6 in Baldwin Place, just before entering Westchester County. There is trail construction alongside Rt 6 between Brewster and Carmel. I was pleasantly surprised that Rt 6 has good shoulders all this way, with some rolling hills.
July-2002: Putnam Country Trail and Train Access
Ken's report:
I started at the south end at Baldwin Place by riding from the north end of Westchester's North County Trailway, continued on the Putnam County Trail to Mahopac.
On the north end, the paved section of the Putnam County Trail currently ends at the intersection of Bucks Hollow Rd and Rt 6 in Mahopac.
The pavement was in good condition, and the riding was pleasant.
I was riding with Greg and he had worked out a route to Brewster -- so from there we turned Right on Rt 6 and rode about half a mile, then Right onto Croton Falls Rd (county Rt 34) just under a mile, Left on Shear Hill Rd a short ways, a Right onto Weber Hill Rd for a mile, then join Drewville Rd and go about four miles to Rt 6, turn Right on that and go less than a mile to reach North Main St of Brewster, and a Right turn on that goes to the Metro North train station. About 7.5 miles total.
Most of these sections of Rt 6 were pretty wide. A couple of the other roads had some no-shoulder sections where the visibility around curves was a bit questionable -- but I'm not sure how to do any better for a train station connection around there.
Sept-2003: Putnam Country Trail and access from Brewster train station
Ken Roberts:
Trailway was in good condition continuing north from its connection with Westchester Trailways as far as Mahopac.
I tried to follow a paved trail section which went beyond the endpoint I remembered from a year or so ago. But after a little ways it took me back to Rt 6. I couldn't find any sections of paved trailway after that -- except maybe a 100 meters of fenced-off section of wide road shoulder.
Brewster train access
I tried Rt 6 from near Mahopac to the Brewster train station. Some of the shoulder is amazingly wide in excellent condition, and much is reasonably wide in good condition -- and with fine views alongside lakes.
But there are still some sections of Rt 6 with hardly any shoulder at all (at the south end of West Branch Reservoir?), or with a narrow shoulder with pretty rough pavement -- some of that on hills where I greatly wished for more space to avoid the high-speed vehicles whizzing by. One moderately steep hill by Belden Rd with a construction project to narrow the road and remove all right shoulder, but at least there was a still a narrow shoulder on the left. The good sections of the Rt 6 shoulder are almost like an extension of Trailway, but the difficult sections are a whole different animal, for anybody with less than expert road-traffic-handling skills.
May 2004, Ken
I'm not sure if the new paving of the Trailway from Croton Falls Rd to Drewville Rd helps much with connecting from the Trailway to the Brewster train station -- since on Rt 6 between Drewville Rd and Carmel, there's a narrow-lane no-shoulders construction section up a steep hill, and other hilly sections with narrow or non-existent shoulders on that part of Rt 6. Further east on the Trailway itself, some sections between Drewville Rd and Sheffield Hill Rd by Rt 6 at Carmel are unpaved, and a couple of bicyclists told us they had to turn back when the trail ran into a creek with no bridge over it.
Will, July 2010
Rode the trail from its current terminus at Old Mine Road down into Westchester and back. Wonderful gorgeous trail!! Note:
1. Old Mine Road to Putnam Av. not done yet, so start at Old Mine road.
2. This site: http://www.putnamcountyny.com/planning/files/Putnam%20Bike%20path%20brochure%20&%20map.pdf says: "Please note: No parking on Old Mine Road; please use the new parking lot on Tilly Foster Road." I found no parking lot on Tilly Foster Rd, but there was plenty of unofficial parking just on the roadside. Maybe I just didnt look far enough.
Phil, July 2007:
Rode the trail from Rockerfeller estate to Carmel . . . The trail is open beyond Carmel. You no longer have to ride on Rt 6 in Mahopac. The trail is finished in that section.
Don W, December 2006:
sent Email about the Mt Hope Rd to Croton Falls Rd section:
I was just there today and this section is no longer on the road. The trail goes past various back yards but it is completely off road from Baldwin Place to Carmel. BTW the trail still ends at Seminary Road, just in case there was a question.
Stephen, November 2005:
We (husband, wife, and 11 year old son) rode the trail from the Rt. 118 parking lot (South end) to its current Northern Terminus at Seminary Hill Road. There are about 10 spaces in a small dirt parking area near the shopping center. Trail is in very good condition.
The early part of the trail has a few slight ups and downs as it passes some suburban backyards and the backs of a few commercial districts. Once in the middle of the trail, the route moves farther back from the road, through some nice wooded areas, past Lake Mahopac, Lake Casse and then Lake Gleneida on its way to the North Terminus. We didn't stop at Lake Mahopac but it looks like a great spot for lunch. There's a short stint where the trail goes onto the shoulder of Rt. 6, but it's wide enough to be safe and visibility is good.
The Northern part features a fairly long gradual descent, so be aware that you'll do a little more climbing on your way South. But don't be deterred - it's a nice path and the grade is quite reasonable; just take your time.
Paul, May 2005:
Rode the Putnam Trail today. The Northern Terminus is now on Seminary Hill Road @ Glenida Court. Except for a small stretch on the wide shoulder of Route 6 in Mahopac, the trail is totally off road and mostly on the original right of way of the Old Putnam Division RR.
David, April 2005:
What a delight! We set out from Yorktown Heights on Saturday for a beautiful ride along the North County Trailway. While I had taken the trailway to Baldwin Place before, we elected to continue on to Carmel after hearing that it was open. While in Croton Falls there is a stretch along the highway which was not the most scenic, north of Croton Falls into Carmel was beautiful. With roaring brooks, riding along the old South Putt right of way was a great ride. We stopped for lunch in Carmel and headed back to Yorktown. Three weeks earlier I had led a ride from Hastings to Elmsford on the South County Trailway and linked up to the North County Trailway by Sam's Club. Now I know I can ride from Hastings all the way to Carmel on Trailways, but for a 1 mile stretch stretch in Elmsford. I hope they link it!